Nobara and Junpei arrived at the movie theater and started choosing what to watch.
Unlike Nobara, who was growing a little tense by the second, Junpei stepped inside and immediately felt a wave of familiar nostalgia, grinning from ear to ear.
The smell of fried popcorn, the faint sound of a movie playing somewhere inside.
This was it.
'So this is my first time back at a movie theater since then.'
It had once been a place he went to as often as twice a week, but after the day he met Mahito, he had never come back.
All the pent-up urge to watch things, which had quietly piled up without him noticing, was finally bursting out here.
Junpei was a little high on the joy of being back after so long.
“Kugisaki, what do you want to watch?”
“Huh? Uh, anything! You pick. You’re the expert, right?!”
“Oh? You’re okay with that?”
Startled, Nobara waved her hands and reacted fiercely, but Junpei brushed it off without a care and began choosing a movie, flipping through the posters one by one.
Watching that from behind, Gojo and the others slapped their foreheads.
“You were doing so well, so why...”
“Junpei can’t resist anything once movies come up.”
Up until then he had seemed surprisingly sharp, but now Junpei looked like his intelligence had suddenly dropped, and a frustration like he had eaten five hundred sweet potatoes rose in their chests.
And yet Nobara, who had seemed completely uninterested until now, was the one looking conscious of Junpei.
The obsessive matchmaking crew hated that Junpei still hadn’t noticed the perfect opportunity right in front of him.
But if they left things like this, the name of the “strongest” would cry.
After watching the situation for a moment, Gojo decided to use extreme measures.
“This won’t do, Megumi! We’re going with emergency measures!”
“What exactly are we supposed to do in this situation?”
“You summon a shikigami from Junpei’s shadow and drag him over! I’ll handle Kugisaki!”
Fwoosh!
The moment Megumi formed a hand sign, Gojo opened his palm and pointed it at Nobara.
“Cursed Technique Reversal, [Blue]!”
The secret art of the Limitless, designed by setting the final sum of an infinite series of converging values to negative and generating attraction.
His cursed energy gathered, and Nobara’s body was tugged slightly toward Junpei.
“Huh? Huh?”
“Kugisaki!”
The moment Junpei, panicking, reached out his hand, [Divine Dogs - Totality] burst from the shadow and yanked at Junpei’s ankle.
In an instant, the two of them were pulled close and rolled across the floor while clutching each other.
Thud!
“I-isn’t this a little too much...?”
“No! The stronger the trial, the more beautiful the love that blooms within it! My heart may ache, but I have chosen to become their trial! Guhhh!”
“Gojo-sensei... such profound intentions...”
“Don’t take him seriously, you idiot!”
Nobara and Junpei, who had fallen in such ridiculous poses, both sprang back to their feet.
“W-why did my body suddenly...”
“You okay?”
“Yeah...”
At Junpei’s sweetly concerned voice, Nobara turned her head away.
Her answer came out shy and soft, nothing like her usual bold tone.
And Junpei, whose body had been pressed against hers, was no different.
'She was incredibly soft...'
The sensation of a soft, full female body woke Junpei’s hopelessly broken romantic instincts.
For a while, an awkward atmosphere hung between them.
“Do you maybe hate slasher movies...?”
“You watch those all the time anyway... every time we go on a mission.”
“Ah... right. Then maybe a ro...mantic comedy...”
“A-are you crazy? What the hell have you been thinking about since earlier?!”
“No, I just thought it had the safest rating and title...”
Good. Back to normal.
It had been a lucky pervert event straight out of a cheap, outdated comedy, but clichés exist for a reason.
“Why the hell does this actually work...”
“Looks like we got one this time too.”
“Nice, Sensei! Amazing!”
Watching Yuji and Gojo celebrate, Megumi clutched his head.
'Is this really okay? Sorry, Yoshino. Sorry, Kugisaki!'
“Oh? Megumi, what’s with that face? Are you feeling guilty now?”
“That’s right, Fushiguro. You’re already an accomplice.”
“I know without being told...”
------------------------------
He had to be insane.
His mind had blanked out for a moment.
If he could, he wanted to kill the him from ten minutes ago.
That was Junpei’s honest impression five minutes into the movie.
They say the less intelligent you are, the braver you become, but conversely, when a naturally timid person tries to muster courage, he can end up acting like an idiot.
Junpei was exactly that kind of case.
'Why did I suggest coming to the movie theater?'
A young man and woman had gone shopping together, eaten snacks at a café, and then come here alone to watch a movie.
It was a date, plain and simple, impossible to deny by anyone’s standards.
Now that he’d finally come to his senses, Junpei realized what he had done all along.
'I’m doomed. Kugisaki’s going to think I’m some kind of pervert...'
Nobara hadn’t said a word since then.
Of course, you’re supposed to be quiet in a movie theater, but Junpei had long since forgotten such obvious common sense.
His attention was fixed entirely on Nobara, sitting quietly beside him.
The movie itself didn’t even register.
The event meant to close out the day had turned into a complete mess.
And Junpei, absurdly enough, felt his heart pounding in this ridiculous situation.
The feel of Nobara’s body pressed against his earlier.
The strange warmth from the seat beside him where they sat shoulder to shoulder.
The slender fingers that occasionally brushed his whenever he reached for popcorn.
Every one of those things drove Junpei insane.
He didn’t know whether this feeling was love or lust, but...
At the very least, he couldn’t deny that he was attracted to Nobara right now.
Every time the screen flashed, her side profile came into view.
She wasn’t the kind of beauty that would get cast on the street, but she was beautiful enough.
Pure white skin, a sharp bridge of the nose, keen eyes.
Even hidden beneath loose clothing, the hills of her chest stood out with unmistakable presence.
A brown bob that swayed at the nape of her neck.
'Come to think of it, she really does fit my type perfectly...'
That wasn’t all.
He had realized it while spending the day with her.
The roughness Junpei had imagined in her was actually confidence, and beneath her rough speech there was a subtle elegance.
In most situations, she reacted coolly instead of barking at people, and she had a knack for making others feel at ease.
And above all, they talked well, so being with her was fun.
Junpei had to admit it now.
She wasn’t some delinquent or thug.
She was just a spirited, pretty teenage girl you could find anywhere.
Just as Junpei was thinking that and trying hard to focus on the movie, Nobara was having similar thoughts of her own.
'This guy... he’s bolder than I expected. Asking me out on a date like that...'
At first, his timid attitude and slumped shoulders had bothered her.
What she disliked most were his eyes.
One was hidden by his bangs, and the other had no life in it, like a dead fish’s eye.
His whole look, like he was barely hanging on to life, was irritating.
That wasn’t all.
His first impression had been bad, and the way he talked wasn’t any better.
She’d just sighed a little, and he’d flared up and picked a fight with her on their first meeting. He was like a hedgehog raising its quills because it didn’t want to get hurt.
So maybe she had looked down on him a little in her heart.
'Thinking about it now... the timing was just bad.'
It had been a rough period, when she was still depressed over Yuji’s death.
It had been the first time she’d seen a comrade die right in front of her.
That’s just what being a jujutsushi meant, so she told herself she’d get used to it.
But no matter how hard she tried to forget, Yuji’s stupid smiling face wouldn’t leave her mind.
Then Yoshino Junpei showed up.
That bastard Gojo had dragged in some unfamiliar boy as a “gift,” without caring how she felt, and tossed him at them as a new student.
It felt like he was trying to steal Yuji’s place.
Like he was saying dead comrades were just disposable things you could replace whenever you wanted.
It made her angry.
And then Yuji turned out to be alive.
He nearly died again during the exchange event, but thanks to Junpei fighting desperately and winning, he had survived.
Junpei was far stronger than she had expected. Strong enough to defeat a special-grade vengeful spirit.
She didn’t have to watch someone die again.
Only then did she manage to revise her opinion of Junpei a little.
'I thought he was just some lifeless otaku.'
But even so, things were still awkward between them. Even more so after Junpei revealed his type.
So she’d probably been acting sharper on purpose.
It was easier to remain a stranger than to stay as some vague acquaintance.
That was the life philosophy she’d learned from living in a rural town.
'After spending the day together, he’s actually pretty...'
She had learned something today.
Junpei might be timid, but he wasn’t weak.
Surprisingly, he had backbone, and he knew so much that the conversation never ran dry.
At the very least, compared to Yuji or Megumi, he was an angel.
Yuji was kind, but simple in everything he did and so much of a country bumpkin that he didn’t look like a “man” at all.
Megumi was more reliable than Yuji, but arrogant and irritable.
After spending all that time with only those two, Junpei was refreshing in how he took her rough teasing and tanked it so smoothly.
'His face isn’t bad either, come to think of it.'
He had a narrow, delicate look, the kind of sickly pretty-boy face that certain people would love.
If he just did something about that frustrating hair, he’d look a lot better.
Without realizing it, Nobara thought that, then shook her head.
Junpei’s gaze had been sneaking toward her all this time.
Their hands occasionally bumped in the popcorn bucket.
She wasn’t the only one conscious of the skin contact.
When their bodies touched earlier, she had been a little surprised by how solid he felt.
He’d been disappearing from sight lately because he was supposedly working out hard, so his body must have grown in the meantime.
Nobara’s face had been red for a long time already.
She was very glad the movie theater was dark by default.
'Hah, seriously. So you do know you’re cute. Your only flaw is that you’re not honest.'
There was no doubt that the guy liked her.
If this had been before, she would have rejected him without hesitation, snapping, “Know your place, you shut-in,” but now...
Her mood had softened, and that wasn’t so bad.
'There I go adding to my sins again...'
In a way, it was just her usual delusion of being loved.
This time, though, she wasn’t entirely wrong.
Anyway, once she became aware of Junpei’s feelings, she also grew interested in his personal circumstances.
He was definitely from a non-sorcerer background.
It wasn’t like he had entered late because he’d been fighting his grandmother, like she had...
He also seemed to have known Yuji before enrolling, so what had he been doing before that?
The closer she got to him, the more questions she had.
'Are those bangs glued on or something?'
He didn’t smell bad, so he probably washed his hair regularly, but for some reason that Aphelios cut of his had no intention of changing.
That was what she was most curious about. What secret was hidden under there?
Before long, Junpei was absorbed in the movie.
That made her a little sulky, so she tried a prank she normally wouldn’t have done.
Her tendency not to approach others first was still the same, but because the special situation of a date had lowered her guard, her hand was more reckless than usual.
Nobara’s hand approached the right side of Junpei’s face as he focused on the movie and sipped his cola.
And before he noticed, she quickly grabbed the right side of his hair and lifted it up.
And then she witnessed it.
Junpei’s most humiliating memory, the one he had wanted to hide.
Even when the shocked Junpei violently slapped her hand away, she couldn’t say a word.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
A frighteningly cold voice scolded her.
The warm atmosphere from before vanished the instant she crossed the line.
“I-I...”
“..........”
“I’m sorry...”
Her voice came out tiny on its own, but his expression showed no sign of softening.
Junpei turned his head away again and said nothing after that.
He didn’t touch the popcorn, and he didn’t glance at her anymore.
For some reason, Nobara felt like she might cry.
'I ruined everything...'
She wasn’t going to cry.
It was my fault, so what right do I have to cry?
Thinking that, she forced back her tears and kept watching the movie.
But the sweet atmosphere, and even the film’s tender music, felt empty to her now.
------------------------
At the same time, in the back row of the same theater.
“Yoshino... you’re angry right now, aren’t you...?”
“Yeah. Extremely.”
“I never thought the mistake would come from Nobara instead of Junpei...”
“Looks like this is busted, huh...?”
“Why is she doing that? It was just a little prank on his forehead, right?”
“.......Don’t ask me that. If you’re curious, ask Junpei directly later.”
“...? Got it.”
“Ah, it’s over. It’s over.”
Yuji, realizing that Nobara had touched Junpei’s reverse scale, fell into despair.
Megumi couldn’t understand what on earth was going on.
Gojo was just disappointed that the tower he had painstakingly built had collapsed.
In the silence between the three men, the sound of someone crunching popcorn echoed loudly.
“Hey, brat. This popcorn stuff is pretty tasty. They didn’t have it in the Heian era, though.”
“Shut up, Sukuna...”
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